Read the label!

I came down with a cold last night. My nose was constantly dripping. I work at a hospital so I decided to go to the pharmacy to get just the right thing. It seems like every time I get a cold I can't remember which drug is best for a runny nose. There is pseudo epinephrine, a decongestant commonly called pseudophed, and then there are antihistamines. Antihistimines make one tired. So, when I got to the pharmacy I carefully explained to the man behind the counter that I had a runny nose and that I wanted something to dry it up without making me tired. He quickly spouted off "pseudophed". I paid the money, received the medication and promptly went to my desk where I read the instructions of how many to take and how often. I saw the word decongestant and thought about it for a second deciding to trust the pharmacist. Well that was a bad idea! My nose went from bad to worse. I had a normally runny nose that turned into a really runny nose.

After 2 hours using two handkerchiefs per minute I went back to the pharmacy and went right up to the guy who told me pseudophed was the thing I needed. Doing my best to refrain from being a jerk I calmly explained what had happened. Another pharmacist stepped in and told me it was exactly the opposite of what I needed. I was irked to say the least but I calmly purchased the product and left. I figured the embarrassment in front of his peers was more affective than me throwing a fit of some kind.

I went to the pharmacy to get advise because I have made this exact mistake before. The more I think about our initial interaction the more I think he didn't listen to what I was saying. He thought he knew the answer before I was done talking. Had I simply paid more attention to the label rather than trust the pharmacist I would have remedied the problem before it happened. Read the label!